1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to heating cookers and, more particularly, to a heating cooker constructed to evenly distribute steam from a steam generator to a cooking cavity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, heating cookers, such as an oven, are appliances to cook food using a heater. The heating cooker includes a cabinet which defines a cooking cavity therein. The heater is mounted to a wall of the cooking cavity to irradiate heat into the cooking cavity. A plurality of food racks are placed in the cooking cavity to provide a multi-level structure, with the food being placed on the food racks.
A method of cooking the food using the heating cooker is as follows. The food is placed on the food racks provided in the cooking cavity, and then the heater is turned on. Heat is then generated by the heater and irradiated onto the food to cook the food within a short period.
Among the conventional heating cookers, there is a heating cooker having a steam generator to supply steam to the cooking cavity. The steam generator supplies the steam to the cooking cavity to prevent moisture in the food from evaporating as a result of heat generated by the heater. The prevention of evaporation tends to maintain the quality of the food. The conventional heating cooker having the steam generator cooks the food using both the heat generated by the heater and the steam to reduce a cooking time. Further, among the conventional heating cookers, a heating cooker may include a steam generator without the heater. Here the heating cooker cooks the food by using only the steam.
The steam generator of the conventional heating cooker includes a steam generator, a steam supply pipe, and a steam discharger. The steam generator heats water to generate the steam. The steam supply pipe couples the steam generator to the cooking cavity to supply the steam from the steam generator to the cooking cavity. The steam discharger is mounted to a wall of the cooking cavity, and includes steam discharging holes to disperse the steam into the cooking cavity.
In the steam generator constructed as described above, the steam transmitted through the steam supply pipe to the steam discharger is discharged into the cooking cavity through the steam discharging holes of the steam discharger, to contact the food in the cooking cavity.
However, the conventional heating cooker has a problem in that the steam discharger is localized in an upper portion or a lower portion of the cooking cavity, and the steam tends to be concentrated in a portion of the cooking cavity adjacent to the steam discharger. The steam is therefore unevenly distributed to the food which may be far away from the steam discharger.